Usability

The Beta Test is a trial run of any new site before it goes live to the target audience; be it as small as a targeted user group or as large as the rest of the world. This is the perfect opportunity to make sure everything is working the way it was planned to work.

by Carmine Porco — In many cases, we are brought in by clients when they recognize that their intranet is outdated, difficult to navigate and cumbersome to use. While the scope of these projects will always vary, a constant is the need to define the proper information architecture. The IA essentially defines the intranet ‘site map’ – the schematic flow chart or hierarchy of the site, and is the foundation of a site’s usability.

“I can’t find anything!” At the risk of sounding repetitive, this is still the number one complaint of most employees at most organizations, regardless of size, industry and geographic location. Notwithstanding the effectiveness of the search engine which, more often than not, is rated as being somewhere between 'awful' and 'piss-poor,' information architecture is often the top priority of most intranet managers when undertaking a redesign.